2004 A3 8P TDI REALY BAD CORROSION ON DRIVERS SIDE, CAN I CLAIM ON WARRANTY?

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chrisy t

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Ibaught an audi a3 2.0td about 6 months ago and i have noticed some severe corrosion on the drivers side near the door going all the way back to the rear of the sill! I picked the lower trim panel off and it was like opening pandooras box! Heres some pics, do you think i could claim for this under warranty even though the car is 7 years old?

1005634.jpg

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Chris
 
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Well audi corrosion warranty is 10 or 12 years i believe not checked in years. I claimed on my old A3 when it was 10 years old ish as there was a common roof rusting.

Take it in and ask. They will fob you off probably but just ring audi uk and ask for a proper inspection. They should give paint readings to see if its been painted etc etc but make sure you follow it thorough without them giving rubbish excuses.

When i took mine in the fella said its an ex lease car so could have had work done, we don't know the full history etc etc

That looks like a lot of rust for a 6 year old car which hasnt had work done though?
 
I would think its probably been accident repaired and has an after market panel in place for it to rust like that .
 
provided it hasn't been accident repaired, your statutory right should help you in that the product is not of satisfactory durability. however i'd imagine this only applies if you bought it new which i imagine you haven't.

best thing to do would be to contact trading standards first and know what your rights are. at the end of the day they dicate what you are and aren't entitled to LEGALLY and then and Audi Warranty is taken as an addition to that. if you're legally entitiled to something it doesn't matter what the terms of Audi's Warranty are.
 
The car is hpi clear and has never been recorded for being in an accident?? Do you not think its genuine? It does seem like alot of rust but the panel itself is fine, it doesnt look like its had a respray! Would it be an MOT failure?? Also how much do you reckon it would cost to have this done?

Cheers
Chris
 
The other problem is that i had already started rubbin it down to see how bad the rust was as you can see from the pictures!! Are they then going to say h youve already started work on it so you are not covered? I sarted the work before i realised that there might be a chance of getting the work done under warranty!!

Gutted!
 
Not good that you already started rubbing it down. Kind of probably puts you on the back foot so try and be nice as pie to them. Unless its a really common problem im not sure you will get any joy. Just get down there and try.

HPI only shows accidents where it has been written off doesnt it? Could be genuine though.
 
Be about £300 to get the rear wing painted to a good standard .You already killed the warantee rubbing it down i would say ..
 
Years ago, my son had a 3rd hand Montego just inside the 6 year warranty. The sill under the hatch went just as your sill has. It was repaired with a new panel FOC and looked like new afterwards!
Don't give up hope, as VAG should be better than British Leyland.
 
Damn thats some rust there & if thats original panel, take it to dealer as you could say its been rubbed down etc to check the state of the rust as your painter advised it maybe under paint warranty, hey dont ask dont get, nothing to lose.
 
Wow thats been repaired 100% sure of it. You can see in the pics where its been bodged and filled. I'd guess its had a rear quarter replacement as thats the area where they should be joined.

Unlucky mate, Thats a bit too serious to repair on the cheap too.
 
Those pics are allot clearer, if those are fill patches, then forget audi mate.
 
Sorry to say mate but that's accident damage so audi will not entertain you, bad times...

I'm a panel beater to trade previously
 
Ah well, i cant see any filler anywere wer i have rubbed it down! its all rusted metal! Its got its MOT on friday so i have botched it to make it look like the problem isnt there and you can barely see it! I spoke to my mate who has his own body shop, he said its not as bad as it looks, just needs cutting aout and rewelding, he sad its not affected the rear quarter panel so he can just let a piece in at the bottom, He said £200 will make it sound with no future problems!! Im happy with that, here are some pics of my botch job to get it through the MOT. Im sure it would have been an MOT failure!

Pics

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The other thing that ****** me off is that no matter how many checks you do on a car to see if its been involved in an accident it doesnt matter, this car is HPI clear never recorded however it looks like its had work done!! you just cant win!!
 
I think its abit extreme to say sell it fast! Its not that biga deal! It just wants grinding out at the bottom and a peice welding in behind he trim and a peice around the sill, its not as bad as it looks! Its not affected any part of the upper panel and the rest of the bodywork is mint, ive looked at the chasis and that is mint to, Plus im not the kind of person that can sell a car if its got a problem, im to honest, i would rather get it sorted properly before i sold it!! At the very very worst itwould cost £500 to sort with a new rear quarte and sill, but its not gunna cost that because it doesnt need a rear quarter!
 
Thats a good hide. I hope it's not spotted on MOT as they tend to frown upon rust holes full of filler,lol

Though i doubt it would be noticed as rust is not expected on this kind of car
 
Chris the reason its like that is because its already had a quarter mate, i can tell that by looking at your first pictures and the rusty hole part is where it has been joined. Sorry to say that mate but it is what it is, sadly bumps and smashes are not recorded at all and the only record that seems to be kept of a car is when its been a total loss even then some total loss's are not recorded. With yours it might be the case that it was repaired at very nearly new and there wasnt the right protection put on hence it hasnt lasted.

Did you not give the car a good check over before you bought it?

Did you buy private or from a dealer?

BTW the botch up job looks very well done mate! Tidy :thumbsup:
 
I know, i think it should be ok, Im just gunna get the work sorted on it as soon as because i know that rust can spread very quickly! i will be alot happier once its cut out and resprayed! ive been assurd it will be good as new once its finished with!
 
Chris, see the door seal around the frame on the car, pull that off along where the quarter panel joins the body if you know what i mean and take a picture of that to see if the panel has been replaced, it will either have been mig welded on or spot welded. If it has been replaced and it was spot welded back on the spot welds will be smaller than the factory and probably closer together. If it has been mig welded back on the lip under the seal will be smooth with little or no sigh of any spot weld marks.
 
chrisy t said:
I know, i think it should be ok, Im just gunna get the work sorted on it as soon as because i know that rust can spread very quickly! i will be alot happier once its cut out and resprayed! ive been assurd it will be good as new once its finished with!
Click to expand...

My advice would be to put a panel on it mate, the rust on it has pretty much eaten the steal and like you say when rust starts it doesnt stop till theres nothing left to eat.
 
Iknow what your sayin Moosh it probs has had a rear quarter!! But im told that the peice at the bottom can just be grinded out as that is the only bit that is corroded, the upper panel is fine, so my mate says it can just be cut out and then weld another bit in nd respray it. I bought the car 6 months ago priate! It was my choice to view in the dark also! i didnt notice it at the time, to be honest, i only started noticing the rust the other week, there was no hole in in it at all, i started poking around that area and noticed a little rust, then i started picking with a screwdriver and banged it a few times and ended up putting the screwdriver through it! Thats when i knew i had a problem! Its not in the most visible area neither because it is hidden behind the trim. Its a 2004 2.0 tdi 140, got 80000 miles on the clock had 6 months MOT full service history including cambelt and water pump and previouse MOTS, Also came with a private number plate on it, got it for £5400. I thought that price wasn to bad, The rest of the car is absolutely mint, not a ding or a scratch and underneith is pristine! Its realy annoid me about the rear quarter! gggrrr such is life!!
 
That sucks mate and it sounds like a right deal you got to, you'll probably find the previous owner may be knew nothing about it either as the sealer on the sill has hidden it well and the trim as you say has also hidden it. If your mate is hand you could like you say replace the lower half. Almost keeping it below the moulding, ask your mate if he will spray in there with wax oil aswell mate just to beef up the protection and hold back any hidden rust from rearing its ugly head. I hate rust mate! My friend asked me to repair his honda integra type R, had a small 50p size hole in iton the quarter panel at the rear and by the time i had finished with it i had to put two new inner wheel arches on it, make two parts up for the quarters where the bumper bolts on as they were gone and make the lower half of his quarter panel up as it was also gone.

I dont think your one is as serious as that but im sure your mate will fix it up good for you mate!

Dodgy bodyshop bandits strike again grr
 
our totally Moosh its defo had a rear quarter!! Ive just checked, take a look at these pictures from the join at the tailgate, the other side is a perfect join fromaudi and you can tell that the side with te rust isnt genuine, also when i look alon the roof you can see a little bit of a sharp line where the paint job has been cut in, defo had a quarter panel! urely the guy i bought it off wouldnt have known though, i mean i know the rust is bad but would it not take a good 4 years for it to end up in this state unnoticed? I dont think the guy who had it before would have known about it, he had the car for 2 years. How much do you reckon for a rear quarter fitted and sprayed? roughly? Also i meant to say, when i did the botch job i scraped away as much rust as i could and used some emry cloth to smooth it off. I then rammed a load of hmmerite black on it, the paint direct to rust stuff! That should help a little. Cheers for the advice also mate.

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting This is the bad side

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting This is also the bad side

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting This is the good side

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting This is also the good side
 
My keyboard is playing up, i meant to say you ar totally right Moosh lol
 
Dam thats a shame mate but if you get that fixed up at the bottom and get the panel wax oiled it should be good from there or at least best it can be! Real shame mate but dont be to disheartned once your mate fixes it up its going to look cracking again!
 
Yeah i suppose. To top it off ive just baught a new s line bumper and bonnet and its its being sprayed up as we speak. im getting it fitted next week! Im not that disheartned, at the end of the day its only cosmetic and it can be fixed and once its done the car will be sound!! Cheers for the advice moosh, been a great help!
 
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